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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Bellows’ all too short life span of 42 years was fortunately, put to good use. What must have been a gruesome death from a “neglected” attack of appendicitis, abruptly ended his workman-like output at the pinnacle of a prodigious career. His early mentor Robert Henri provided impetus to become immersed in street life and find inspiration where least expected. In fact, the moniker “Ashcan School” was apparently based on a derogatory observation by a fellow artist commenting on a supposed scene in one of Bellows paintings of trash pickers.He was painter’s painter, an athletic (he could have become a pro baseball player) and aesthetic prodigy whose art for the most part sustained a lean, yet lushly representational physique. His early New York City-scapes offer youthful enthusiasm and energetic grit, and are some of his most unencumbered work, raw, yet highly perceptive and well composed. These everyday scenes of street life gain heightened sensation and portend dramatic implications. The steamy confines of mid summer heat are felt as much as seen in compositions such as “Noon” and “42 Kids”.

Noon March, 1908 22in x 28in

In particular the stark architecture of “Noon” prefigures Franz Kline, while “42 Kids” evokes a Dickens-sonian sense of oppressed humanity striving for release.

42 Kids August, 1907 42in x 60in

Although Bellows never visited Europe (I can only imagine what revelations a trip to Italy would have provided had he lived long enough to go) he studied the European masters intently. Early portraits such has “Paddy Flannigan” and “Frankie The Organ Boy” channel charged up, Caravaggio-esque distortions, subtly contorting the figurative gesture, as riveting stares emanate from jet black onyx eyes fixated with a pensive, animalistic tension.

Paddy Flannigan October, 1908 30 1/4in x 25in

Frankie the Organ Boy July, 1907 48in x 34 1/4in

“Stag At Sharkey’s” has become a seminal piece of
Americana, right up there with American Gothic, Whistler’s Mother, and
Nighthawks. This theater of violent gesture and compacted action,
personifies a roguish narrative intrinsic to the early 20th century
identity of brutally exuberant, and rugged Yankee individualism. The
spectacle of pugnacious ballet seen in “Club Night”, confronts us with a
tight configuration of pugilists, muscular and torqued, battling as
rutting stags might do in combat.

Stag at Sharkey's August, 1909 36 1/4in x 48 1/4in

Club Night August, 1907 43in x 53in

The epitome of Bellows
cityscapes come to fruition in the excavation scenes centered around the
construction of Penn Station. Set at dusk (or dawn?) they establish an
enthralling semiotic structure. In “Pennsylvania Station Excavation”
streaks of white-ish yellow cloud stain a cerulean washed sky,
backlighting a darkened architectural massif. The mid ground stage
set is encrusted with snow; a speck of fire centers the compositional
focus, while steam “bellows” from heavy machinery. This expansive
spatial volume is littered with curious details invoking a Bruegalian
winter tale. The implications for a dramatic storyline are brought
together by a saturated chromatic eloquence; Shakespeare could have set a
scene here. Bellows manages to succinctly transcend the literal
narrative by immersing his painting in a lusciously earthed, yet
ethereal atmosphere. This is one of the most difficult of maneuvers in
painting; to represent the intimate fluidly fleeting moment, while
embracing a formal, structured resolution of enduring stature.

Pennsylvania Station Excavation 1909 31 1/4in x 38 1/4in

Excavation at Night December, 1908 34in x 44in

Bellows
did at times, seem infatuated by bucolic fantasies of the bourgeoisie gathering in city parks that fawn over gaily attired swells. This kind
of ode to upper crust recreation was better left to Seurat. His later portraiture tended to lapse into a conventional “day job” look that may have been the result of commission-itis. I
also found some of his daytime river scenes over illuminated, flattened
out, and fixated on technically obtuse principles of perspective that
distracted from, and denuded his natural tendencies towarda freer
hand in his draftsmanship. Generally I think his darker palette worked more effectively, encouraging more expressive flair.Although
the anti war series of large paintings may at first come off as stiff,
they gain credibility has eloquent propaganda posters. Heartfelt and
compelling, for political art they sustain an authentic, if static,
emotional outrage.

The BarricadeOctober, 191849 1/8in x 83 1/4in

Bellows true crowning achievement in
landscape painting comes to the fore in Maine. The surf scenes from
1913-1914 are the epitome of their ilk. Rooted in Van Gogh and Courbet, they extend
into a viscous notion of frothing sea; a deeply glowing gelatinous ocean
from which all painterly instinct emerges.Bellows total mastery of
the seascape is apparent in “Churn & Break”. Crashing cobalt pale
green waves illuminated by a steak of sun infused fog, subsume a rocky
mass saturated by misty wind blown plumes of surf. Their graceful
turmoil becomes an elementally elegant metaphor for the psychic
interaction of creative intuition and perceptual awareness. While
nature serves as the medium for these action paintings frozen in time,
Bellows sweeping gestures of grandeur are drenched in pigment that
becomes indistinguishable from the picture plane’s barometric flux.

Churn and BreakOctober, 1913Panel18in x 22in

Monhegan Island, Maine1913Panel18in x 22in

The
late landscapes make me pine for what may have come next. Prosaically
ornate, they become almost allegorical meditations on country life.
Although Bellows reaches the height of his powers as draftsman, these
works suggest an unprepossessing manner, similar to the way outsider art
can turn a landscape into a muse about time and place without didactic
intent.

There may be aspects to Bellows career that seem
anachronistic. Europe was bursting with creative innovation, and
abstract art was careening around the corner. Staid realists from the
American academy could be viewed askance, backwater bumpkins without
much flair.In the final analysis, perhaps Bellows was a 19th century
painter at heart, but there is no doubt that he was also the
culmination of a grand tradition. The last gasp really, before the dawn
of a new era of non-representational art that would reject the long,
tedious road to mastering the craft of representational pictorial
supremacy.

Testosterone can wreak havoc on the road, but Michael Chandler’s driven art provides a stimulating dose of filmic action/adventure painting appropriate to an alumnus of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. You won’t get white line fever at this up-tempo exhibit. Painterly Ab Ex stud though he may be, Chandler somehow manages to avoid the pitfalls of Pollack tribute band clichés, and moves into a rarified realm of sweeping grandeur. These paintings draw you into a dimly lit region of mysterious origins; employing the classic “gaze” rewards the viewer with an eerily cinematic sensation of chiaroscuro. Who knows what creatures might emerge from this painter’s dark lagoon of a psyche?Although the paintings don’t make your typical abstract landscapes references, naturalism emanates from their indistinct core. These are not fussy compositions; they are thrown together with flair for splatter, but despite the pumped-up, gestural muscularity end up as nuanced compilations of radiant vibrations. The dichotomy of gung-ho enthusiasm coupled with sensitive brushwork, bring the picture plane a fullness and maturity pleasing to the eye. Chandler is one of those deserving artists who should have garnered more attention. Although he did gain some notoriety in the 80’s and 90’s, how work this ambitious and grand has not been more widely recognized is beyond me. http://michaelchandler.info/michaelchandler.info/M_Chandler.html

His bio is not to be missed: Born in Denver, Colorado, Michael Chandler was a student of Stan Brakhage at the University of Colorado in Boulder during the late 60’s and attended Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles and the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa. He began showing his paintings in 1985 at the galleries of Salvatore Ala in New York and Milan. Chandler has been a gardener in the Hollywood Hills, done mining assessment for the Anaconda Company, worked on Christo's Rifle Valley Curtain project, painted baseball dolls for the Pittsburg Pirates and Cincinnati Reds, was a surveyor for Contact Logging in Philipsburg, Montana, painted walls at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, worked on the production of Walter Hill’s movie The Warriors, painted cartoon cells for Animalympics, did installations at the Mudd Club and Club 57 with Mary-Ann Monforton and worked as an assistant to Dan Flavin through the Dia Art Foundation. Among others, he has exhibited in Munich with Galeria Paal; in Seoul at Gallerie Seomi; in Bologna at Galleria Comunale d’Arte Moderna; in Rio de Janeiro at the Museum of Modern Art; at the Rhode Island School of Design’s Museum of Art and in New York City at P.S.1, the Drawing Center and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Most recently his work could be seen at Jules de Balincourt’s Bushwick Basel. Chandler has worked out of his Lower East Side studio since 1980 and this is his first one person show in New York in 15 years.

Ophuls was the consummate humanist; his films always seem to bring out the sensitive nature of relationships and their romantic implications.He was also one of the most stunning set design artists of his generation. The theatrical elegance of his interiors is particularly engaging. These fanciful, dream-like environments provide mesmerizing montages that evoke surrealist influences. La Ronde is in particular one Ophuls most accomplished works. Set at the turn of the century, an MC wanders about a cleverly contrived stage set that morphs into the first vignette. Presented as a series of interlocking segments, the story meanders about the lives of lovers indulging in various dalliances. These are sentimental fantasies of a more gentile time when extra-marital affairs were discretely and delicately sweet incidents of innocent intent.Unfortunately theres not much of a selection of clips to view, but if you’re willing to wade through Criterions pre video ads I’ve included this link: http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/258841/La-Ronde-Movie-Clip-You-ll-Be-Sensible-.htmlTheres also a nice still on UTube that plays the movie theme music, a waltz that will stick in your head all day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K1eyQeex7Q